Today, Pine Harbour is a world class marina surrounded by a busy community – a place to work, live, shop, relax and attend events. But Pine Harbours development continues, and in next month the proposed long term plan determining the future options for Pine Harbour will be submitted to the local council.
Thirty years ago the spot where Pine Harbour stands today was a rural area, quite isolated from the small town of Beachlands. In the early 1980s there was talk of creating a marina for the local area, and in 1984 investigations began to formally look into the financial, marketing, environmental and engineering aspects of such an undertaking. The initial response from the public was fantastic. Research showed that over 650 people were interested in owning or renting a marina berth, and with that, the marina project began.
The first step was to decide on a location for the marina, and the Springside property was chosen as the most desirable spot.
Development of the marina, which began in 1986 entailed over 440,000 cubic metres of material being removed to create the marina basin and a 1.5km long navigation channel was dug to provide safe all tide access to the marina. After two years of hard work, Pine Harbour Marina opened on 1 May 1988
Since then, a lot has happened at Pine Harbour. The first industrial building went up in the early 1990s, and three additional buildings followed as more space was required. Retail buildings were completed and fully tenanted by 2003, including the Chandlery, Shipbrokers, Liquor Store and Café & Bar. Long gone were the days when Pine Harbour lay in an isolated rural area. Residential developments clustered around the marina, and Formosa Golf Course was established just off Jack Lachlan Drive.
Determining a long term plan
Pine Harbour was growing. But there was still so much potential for further development, and without a ‘big picture’ view there was the risk of it growing haphazardly and becoming disjointed. And so, in 2005 Pine Harbour commenced investigations for a ‘master plan’ that would determine the long term uses for the marina.
Many factors came into consideration, including how closely the marina is linked with the town of Beachlands; Pine Harbour’s Ferry service has made the marina a busy passenger transport hub (with potential to expand services even further); and that there has been a significant shift in how the land adjacent to marinas is being used.
After much discussion, a proposal was set: “To create a thriving community clustered around a world class marina”. This concept would continue the process from Pine Harbour from being only a marina, to becoming a community where people could work, live, and play.
The steady growth of Pine Harbour continues with today over 550 privately owned berths, more than 200 boats stored in the Boat Park and onsite facilities for boat cleaning and maintenance. Brand new retail buildings have been built and tenanted, landscaping of the ‘village green’ set on the marina has been completed and events have begun to take place at Pine Harbour – from yacht races and weddings to last year’s Christmas at the Marina.
Future plans
A key part of bringing the Masterplan to life involves creating specific zoning that incorporates Pine Harbour’s Development Plan into the Manukau City District Plan. The proposed amendments to the ‘Marina Zone’ would allow for the future ‘mixed use’ development of the 11.4 hectares of land set around the existing Marina. The plans include only land owned by Pine Harbour –the Council owned reserve land and boat ramp will not be part of the application.
The new zoning would introduce different ‘precincts’ and allow for a variety of activities and building scale.Plans include a new Marina Village Precinct that would be centered around a village green, and a new harbour where boats and ferries could be moored. The timing for the implementation of the Pine Harbour Master Plan is dependant on both demands for residential and commercial space as well as the provision of services including wastewater. However, it is expected that their development managed by Pine Harbour Holdings Limited will occur over a 20 year period and will be undertaken in a coordinated manner to allow for the continued operation of existing marine industry and marina related activities.
Next month, Pine Harbour propose to lodge their plans with Manukau City Council. If accepted, the council will then publically release them for public submissions, followed by a formal hearing process before a final decision is made.
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